I thought it was strange that in Sacramento, where the most expensive House race in the country was waged, Congressman Doug Ose basically ran with a heavy emphasis on Washington, DC talking points bashing Obamacare, in a state where the ACA is working very well, thank you very much. I couldn’t imagine that this strategy could be that effective, given the real benefits being experienced on the ground. But glad to see I wasn’t the only one:

“Finally, there is the $19 million dollar campaign where the GOP outside groups did engage to the tune of $7 million, and managed to waste much of it. This was Democratic Rep Ami Bera against former GOP Rep. Doug Ose in the Sacramento suburbs. After two full weeks of counting late ballots Bera beat Ose by 1,432 votes out of 180,000 votes cast.

Republican spending on Ose’s behalf began in the early fall with a $900,000 television buy by Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS hitting Bera for his support of Obamacare. But the ads were cookie cutter spots that could have run anywhere, and were not tailored to California.

Obamacare is not the issue in California it is elsewhere for two reasons; Bera was not in Congress when it passed and Covered California, the Obamacare California exchange, has covered most people who lost their insurance under the initial plan. Focusing on Obamacare in California was a huge waste of money, as the final results showed.”

Bottom line: The opponents who ran against Obamacare in California lost. And even Republican observers took notice.